"The flames woke me up and when I came out, this all right here was on fire," said North Vernon resident Heather Tabor.

Tabor said around 11 p.m. Wednesday, she found her neighbor's home on Crestwood Drive on fire.

"It was really bad. It was so intense I could feel it all the way from the road from the other side of our yard," said Tabor.

What she didn't know was that her neighbor, Andrew Hatchett, was trapped inside.

"(It was a) very, very, very bad situation. The house was pretty much engulfed," said Officer Seth Beville with the North Vernon Police Department.

Beville rushed to the back of the home.

"I actually tried to open the back screen door and immediately I was hit with hot black smoke," said Beville.

Beville couldn't get in. But out front, Sgt. Andrew Richmond had a gas mask and made his way inside.

"They are better than nothing. For very short amounts of time inside of a smoke filled room, they help out," said Richmond.

With all the smoke, visibility was near zero. But somehow, Richmond found Hatchett lying on his stomach, overcome by the smoke.

"I grabbed him by his ankles and started to pull him out the way I came toward the front door with Deputy (Wes) Thayer guiding me by voice and by flashlight," said Richmond.

That's when the home started to crumble.

"While I'm waiting outside, some of the ceiling was starting to fall in and I'm advising Sgt. Richmond, 'Hey, you need to hurry up. The ceiling is coming down,'" said Deputy Wes Thayer with the Jennings County Sheriff's Department.

"It was about that time I heard a very large crash," said Richmond.

Thayer was struck with a piece of debris from the falling ceiling. He stumbled, but regained composure. By that time, Richmond was near the door. All five officers pulled Hatchett to safety.

"Yeah, they jumped right in there without hesitation and got him right out," said Tabor.

They may be heroes, but don't tell them that. The men said they were just doing their jobs.

"I wouldn't consider myself a hero. I just think that I care a lot about the people I live with in my community," said Richmond.

Hatchett is currently being treated for minor burns and smoke inhalation at an Indianapolis hospital.